after dinner rest awhile, after supper walk a mile

mile It is best for the digestion to rest after a heavy meal and take some exercise after a light meal: “As the prov- erb says, for health sake, after dinner, or rather after supper, willingly then I’ll walk a mile to hear thee” (Philip Massinger, The Unnatural Combat, 1639). The proverb was first recorded in 1582 in a slightly differ- ent form, with talk in place of rest.
Variant of this proverb: after dinner sit awhile, after supper walk a mile.